» CIA World Factbook
U.S. government profiles of countries and territories around the world. Information on geography, people, government, transportation, economy, communications, military, and transnational issues.https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

Sites:

» BBC Country Profiles
Provides guide to history, politics and economic background of numerous countries. Also includes audio and video clips from the BBC archives.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles/default.stm

» City Population
Statistical tables and maps for the principal cities and agglomerations of the world.
http://www.citypopulation.de/

» Eldis Country and Region Profiles
Search for information on economic, political and environmental issues in countries throughout the world.
http://www.eldis.org/country/

» Island Directory
Basic environmental and geographic information on the significant islands of the world.
http://islands.unep.ch/isldir.htm

» Munisource
A world-wide directory of municipal, town and city web sites, and resource for elected and municipal officials. Includes chat and a forum. Tenders, policies, bylaws and job postings can be listed here.
http://www.munisource.org/

» NationMaster.com
Provides country and regional graphs and descriptive statistics based on geography, military, economy, crime, education, and transportation.
http://www.nationmaster.com/